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#24. The Firm (Nas, AZ, Nature) "Phone Tap" (1997)

While the reviews were definitely mixed on the overall final results of the ballyhooed Firm project, Dr. Dre and company delivered the goods with the inventive "Phone Tap," which went to great lengths to sonically replicate a dramatic scenario in which the MCs engage in a faulty connection between themselves—unawares that the cops are trying to put the Con in Edison and set them up. (The static used to obscure the curses on the clean version was a good call—no need for a fucking beep.) This is a recording that reaches cinematic levels, with everyone on the line getting busy.